This was sent to me by our friends up at the Greater Iowa reef Society. They had a scammer hit their site and use contact info posted publicly to dupe people. Please read the info below and keep in mind that anything public on here can be found by anyone with internet connection.
Please take a moment to read this message and view the thread in the link below
“Recently, a scammer used phone numbers posted in threads on the forum to pose as a seller. The scammer initiated contact directly with a potential buyer using text messages. They insisted that the buyer pay them using Venmo or Paypal as "friends & family", then insisted that the buyer pay another person to deliver the goods, in advance, and as "friends & family". No goods were delivered and the phone number (a 551 area code number) was subsequently disconnected.
The forum was not hacked, nor was anyone's account on the forum. The scammer simply looked at who was posting in a "for sale" thread with a buying interest, then they searched their posts for a phone number in order to initiate the scam.
If you were scammed or were contacted by the scammer, please send Bud a PM on the forum. It is very important that everyone who has had contact with this scammer comes forward with any and all information they have.
It is important for everyone to understand that our forum, along with almost every online forum, is a public system (with the exception of the Members Only area, and the Leadership Areas). You should never post your phone number, home address, etc in public.
Please see the following thread for further information, as well as a guide on how you can search the forum for posts you might have made in the past that contain private information so that you can report these posts and have that information removed.
No, the forum was not hacked.
Please be vigilant when making deals that are not in person. If someone contacts you outside the forum or the Facebook group, and you didn't give them your phone number, that's a big red flag and you should make sure that person is indeed who they say they are.”
Please take a moment to read this message and view the thread in the link below
“Recently, a scammer used phone numbers posted in threads on the forum to pose as a seller. The scammer initiated contact directly with a potential buyer using text messages. They insisted that the buyer pay them using Venmo or Paypal as "friends & family", then insisted that the buyer pay another person to deliver the goods, in advance, and as "friends & family". No goods were delivered and the phone number (a 551 area code number) was subsequently disconnected.
The forum was not hacked, nor was anyone's account on the forum. The scammer simply looked at who was posting in a "for sale" thread with a buying interest, then they searched their posts for a phone number in order to initiate the scam.
If you were scammed or were contacted by the scammer, please send Bud a PM on the forum. It is very important that everyone who has had contact with this scammer comes forward with any and all information they have.
It is important for everyone to understand that our forum, along with almost every online forum, is a public system (with the exception of the Members Only area, and the Leadership Areas). You should never post your phone number, home address, etc in public.
Please see the following thread for further information, as well as a guide on how you can search the forum for posts you might have made in the past that contain private information so that you can report these posts and have that information removed.
No, the forum was not hacked.
Please be vigilant when making deals that are not in person. If someone contacts you outside the forum or the Facebook group, and you didn't give them your phone number, that's a big red flag and you should make sure that person is indeed who they say they are.”
